The huge magic flame which had blown the cold mist away with just one blow was stopped at a wall of strong power and scattered into the sky.

「……」

Shaking his wrist lightly with a “pura pura”, Lucius put on his glove again.

「…Is it fine already?」

At the centre surrounded by the members of the Seal Chivalric Order Tanpries Aigies, Isaac, who had held his head under his arms and fallen prostrate on the saddle, timidly raised his body.

Although the forest at dawn had already regained its previous tranquillity, the smell of blood was mixed in the air. A man who was cut down in a single stroke by Lindegokyou and then fell from his horse had died in a puddle of blood.

The members, who had drawn their swords, loosened the thread of tension which had been making them tense and quietly leaked out sighs.

「…He didn"t have any item that may indicate his ident.i.ty」

Hazard-kyou who had searched the man"s corpse looked back at Isaac and reported.

「He couldn"t have been a traveller who was surprised at the sudden encounter and just drew his sword by reflex for self-defence, …right?」

「If he was a traveller, he"d have luggage typical of one」

At Isaac"s words, Lucius answered while looking around the surroundings.

As much as Lucius could confirm, the other party should have at least five, six hors.e.m.e.n, but it was only one person who was defeated here. The remaining had probably ran off to somewhere. Although their ident.i.ties were uncertain, just the fact that they weren"t a friendly party was incontrovertible.

「—Before that, Your Highness. A decent traveller won"t shoot magic at the moment when two people meet」

The magic, which the horse-riding girl whom they had encountered just now shot, could be flicked off by the “Iron Wall Rampart” that Lucius had instantly deployed. If his reaction had been late, needless to say Lucius, Isaac who was behind him and the members who formed a circular formation to protect him might have been blown off in a bunch. A person who could unleash a magic of that degree in that instant—in addition, a girl who seemed much younger than Lucius, couldn"t be a mere traveller.

「…However, he also didn"t seem to be a type of bandit」

Perhaps he was bothered by the smell of blood, Isaac held his nose and mouth down with a handkerchief and looked down at the unidentifiable corpse.

「Certainly, it"s more fitting to say that he was a person of some army rather than a thief」

「Then, this person is Haiderota"s…?」

The one who muttered so was Angel Saforcada. However, he didn"t looked straight at the corpse. Somehow, he didn"t seem to be very good with blood.

「It might be too hasty to decide so. One can say that Haiderota is already in a state of war with Yururogu. There"s also the possibility that this person is a spy of Yururogu」

「I, I see… I"m sorry, I was too hasty」

「There"s no need to apologise, right?」

Lucius clapped on the shoulder of the boy, who looked down, with a “pon”. Although he was slightly impatient, one could say that Angel had been able to demonstrate more than enough that he had just the ability not to make Bermudes-kou, the person who recommended him, embarra.s.sed with today"s accident. After all, Angel had deployed “Rampart” almost simultaneously as Lucius and repelled that fireball together.

「Even the newcomer, Angel-kun, in our Chivalric Order can accomplish this much. …If a Vice-Minister-kakka of somewhere learns of this, he"ll probably break his riding crop and feel bitter」

Wearing his hat again, Isaac smiled.

「—Saa, let"s hurry」

「Ha」

Lucius left about three members at this place for the present and ordered them to follow the party after burying the unidentifiable corpse together with its personal belongings. They could by no means carry the corpse on a journey where they had to hurry, and if they left it here as it was, it might become just bones in the blink of an eye because of the animals in the forest. For the sake of investigating its ident.i.ty again later on too, burying it here now was the best choice.

「All members, mount your horses!」

At Lucius"s command, the Chivalric Order straddled the backs of the horses again and started running in the forest.

「—What do you think, Lucius-kun?」

Isaac, who was keeping pace with Lucius, secretly whispered to him.

「About what?」

「About Angel-kun」

In front of the pair, Angel was travelling at the head of the group together with Hazard. Perhaps because an incident like just now had happened, his eyes flew here and there restlessly, and he seemed to be cautious of the vicinity.

「…Certainly, he seems to be a possessor of a considerable power. Setting having little combat experience aside, are the excellence of that reaction and instantaneous judgement innate? If not, he might have acc.u.mulated a great deal of magic training」

「That"s to say, he has the qualifications as Lindegokyou"s successor, is it?」

「I think that he still lacks the ability as Lindegokyou"s successor, but if we teach him various things at practice, can he not immediately absorb and cope with them, I wonder?」

Rather, Lucius"s genuine thought was that he should put Angel close by for that training.

As long as their birthplaces weren"t asked, there were quite a lot of young men in the Seal Chivalric Order who would work their fingers to the bone, but the people who had this much talent were really few, after all.

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